The Gathering of Mulberry Leaves and the Feeding of the Silkworms, Plate 5 from "The Introduction of the Silkworm" [Vermis Sericus]

The Gathering of Mulberry Leaves and the Feeding of the Silkworms, Plate 5 from "The Introduction of the Silkworm" [Vermis Sericus]

Karel van Mallery

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Fifth plate from the series Vermis Sericus, engraved by Karel van Mallery, after Jan van der Straet, called Stradanus, and published by Philips Galle around 1595. Illustration of men and women gathering mulberry leaves to feed the silkworms. On the left women pick mulberry leaves from trees outside and carry them in baskets upon their heads inside to be laid upon shelves. In the background in the center women place the leaves upon shelves, and in the foreground a man pours out a sack of leaves. On the right a woman sweeps the leaves on the floor with a broom, while another organizes the leaves of a shelf.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Gathering of Mulberry Leaves and the Feeding of the Silkworms, Plate 5 from "The Introduction of the Silkworm" [Vermis Sericus]The Gathering of Mulberry Leaves and the Feeding of the Silkworms, Plate 5 from "The Introduction of the Silkworm" [Vermis Sericus]The Gathering of Mulberry Leaves and the Feeding of the Silkworms, Plate 5 from "The Introduction of the Silkworm" [Vermis Sericus]The Gathering of Mulberry Leaves and the Feeding of the Silkworms, Plate 5 from "The Introduction of the Silkworm" [Vermis Sericus]The Gathering of Mulberry Leaves and the Feeding of the Silkworms, Plate 5 from "The Introduction of the Silkworm" [Vermis Sericus]

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.